U.S. Admits Civilians Died in Afghan Raids

Afghan men searched for belongings amid the rubble of their destroyed houses after an airstrike, in Farah Province on Tuesday.Credit
European Pressphoto Agency

WASHINGTON — United States officials acknowledged Thursday for the first time that at least some of what might be 100 civilian deaths in western Afghanistan had been caused by American bombs. In Afghanistan, residents angrily protested the deaths and demanded that American forces leave the country.

Initial American military reports that some of the casualties might have been caused by Taliban grenades, not American airstrikes, were “thinly sourced,” a Pentagon official in Washington said Thursday, indicating that he was uncertain of their accuracy.

“It looks like at least some of the casualties were caused by the airstrikes,” the official acknowledged. A second Pentagon official said, “It wouldn’t surprise me if it was a mix,” but added that it was too soon to tell.

A more complete report was due from Afghan and American investigators at the scene within 24 hours. Both officials requested anonymity so that they could speak more candidly.

The deaths drew hundreds of Afghans into the streets to protest outside police stations and the governor’s office in Farah Province, where two villages were bombed after Afghan forces were ambushed by Taliban insurgents on Monday night.

Outside the governor’s office, police officers fired on demonstrators who threw stones, wounding three of them.

The United States defense secretary, Robert M. Gates, questioned by journalists as he visited the capital, Kabul, apologized for any loss of innocent life. But he said that “exploiting civilian casualties and often causing civilian casualties are a fundamental part” of the insurgents’ strategy.

Photo

Villagers looked at the destruction after air strikes in Ganj Abad, in the Bala Baluk district of Afghanistan, on Tuesday.Credit
Reuters

“We regret any — even one — innocent Afghan civilian casualty,” he said. “And we will make whatever amends are necessary.” He said that he had heard initial reports indicating that the casualties might have been caused by Taliban grenades, not American airstrikes, but said that he had no confirmation.

The number of civilians killed in military operations, particularly American bombing raids, has become a chief source of Afghan disenchantment with the war against the Taliban. The United Nations estimated that more than 2,000 civilians were killed in fighting last year.

Villagers and Afghan lawmakers disputed the initial American claims that Taliban grenades had caused the casualties. Muhammad Naeem Farahi, a Parliament member who is from the area and has followed the case closely, laughed at the suggestion. “No, that’s not true,” he said, “and I am someone who supports the American presence.”

He said he had gathered no reports of civilians wounded in the firefight before the bombing. He accused the Americans of using petty criminals as informants who often gave false reports and might even work for the Taliban.

Photo

A wounded woman from the Bala Baluk district in western Afghanistan on Tuesday in a hospital in Farah Province.Credit
Abdul Malek/Associated Press

Asked to repeat their accounts of what happened in their villages on Monday, two villagers reached by telephone gave the same details of the sequence of events as before.

Fighting broke out when Taliban fighters attacked Afghan Army and police forces at a police checkpoint on the main road some 500 yards from one of the sites that was bombed, said Muhammad Jan, whose village, Shiwan, was bombed.

The fighting did not reach the village or cause casualties there, he said. The Taliban pulled back into the village and then left the area. Later, planes came and bombs fell, but by then no Taliban fighters were in the village.

The bomb damage was so extensive that it could not have been caused by grenades, Mr. Jan said. “Taliban have no strong weapon to bring these kinds of casualties” he said. “The Taliban did not throw grenades into civilians’ houses.”

Photo

Afghan villagers marked off graves for people they said were killed by American airstrikes.Credit
Associated Press

Jamil Ahmad, who lives in another bombed village, Granai, supported the account. “The battle finished and the Taliban retreated,” he said, adding “They did not stay in the villages.”

Protesters interviewed by telephone said they demanded a withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan.

In the main city of Farah Province, traders closed stores and said they would not reopen them until the airstrikes had been fully investigated and the demonstrators’ demands were met.

Three high-ranking officials met the protesters and offered to resign in sympathy, according to Allauddin Khan, a tribal elder who was among those who met with the local officials.

Secretary Gates’s remarks did little to relieve the anger. He accused the Taliban of using civilians as shields and of causing civilian casualties by hiding among noncombatants during attacks in a tactic to divide the population from the government and its American supporters.

He said civilian casualties had dropped 40 percent so far, compared with last year, while casualties among Afghan security forces and American and coalition troops were up 75 percent.

Mr. Gates arrived in Kabul after visiting troops in southern Afghanistan and bases that are being expanded for some of the additional American forces President Obama requested.

Elsewhere, in Helmand Province, in the south, a suicide bomber on a motorbike struck a NATO convoy as it was passing through the main street of a town, Gereshk. The blast killed 12 civilians, including children, and wounded 32 others, a government spokesman said.